Jayla Greene (on the left) and her teammates. (Photo provided by Jayla Greene).
As we proceed with our final piece from the "Female Faces of Cortaca's Past: Her View from the Sidelines" series, we’ll next hear from Jayla Greene. Jayla touched on her time as a Kickline member, her life off the field, and cheering for her brother who currently plays on Cortland’s football team.
If you’re just tuning into this series, its purpose is to have the spotlight on women who usually do their part of the biggest little game in the nation on the sidelines rather than being on the field. While we usually see the game from the football players’ point of view, we get to see how the game is viewed from the perspective of the cheerleading, kickline, and danceworks team members, along with other female perspectives.
Jayla attended SUNY Cortland for 4 years as a Psychology major and graduated in 2015. While she was searching for a college close to home, she visited her older cousin at Cortland and fell in love with the campus.
“I tell people all the time my time as a student at Cortland was the best 4 years of my life,” said Jayla. "From the Kickline team, to my classes and experience as a psychology major, and also other roles like being an orientation leader, I am so grateful for my time there. I made some of my best friends (at Cortland) and I discovered what I’m passionate about, which is working with college students now as an academic advisor."
(Photo provided by Jayla Greene).
After being a cheerleader before her time in Cortland, Jayla tried out Kickline at Cortland and found her new calling. She was a member of the Kickline team from her sophomore to senior year.
“I remember going to practices with my friends after a hard day of classes.” mentioned Jayla. “Those were the best memories, aside from competitions.”
Jayla’s most exciting memories were performing each year at Cortaca. She described her experience as insane, fun, and one of the coolest and loudest things she has ever experienced.
Greene’s advice for the Cheerleading team is to “take in the moment and breathe before performing, while having fun.”
Jayla Greene (on the right) and her brother Trey Greene (on the left). (Photo provided by Jayla Greene).
As Cortaca goes to MetLife stadium this year, Jayla will also be cheering on her brother Trey Greene, as he plays defensive back on the Cortland football team. She also anticipates seeing lots of Cortland alumni to attend the game since it’s close to New York City.
“Watching my brother play on the football team is really exciting,” said Jayla. “ I’m happy he’s been able to play the game he loves at the college level, and the fact that it’s at Cortland makes it even better. I’ve just told him to have fun, feed off the energy, and take in the experience. Not many small Division III college teams get to play in an NFL stadium like this. These are memories he will have forever.”
Make sure to read up on our last two stories on the "Female Faces of Cortaca’s Past: Her view from the Sidelines" series:
